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Express Tribune
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
Local Government Bill nullifies district autonomy
In a democracy, the sole purpose of having a local government system is to decentralize power to the district level, in order to ensure that the day-to-day grievances of the public are heard and resolved in an efficient manner by the people who have earned their trust and vote. All this is rendered null and void by the Local Government Bill, 2025, which is little more than a façade of representation. After nearly ten years, preparations for local government elections are underway once again in Punjab, where following the formation of the PML-N government, the Local Government Bill 2025 was proposed. After the approval of the bill, the Local Government Bill was sent to the Standing Committee and is currently awaiting approval from the Punjab Assembly. The Local Government Bill 2025 will abolish the district council, replacing it with a district authority, with the Deputy Commissioner of each district serving as the Chairman. The District Executive Board will have the chief executive officers of all departments as secretaries and the heads of all departments including the District Health Department, Education Department, Social Welfare Department, Population Control, Sports, Transport, Civil Defense, Public Health Engineering, Arts and Culture and Tourism Department as members. According to Salman Abid, a political affairs expert, Article 140A of the Constitution binds the provincial government to transfer political, administrative and financial powers to the elected representatives of the people therefore, the newly proposed Local Government Bill 2025, does not introduce a local government system but a municipality system. 'The government has abolished the district council and has limited the system to the municipal corporation, municipal committee, tehsil council and town corporation. Interestingly, although all the powers of the district will be under the Deputy Commissioner, it should also be kept in mind that the Deputy Commissioner is under the control of the Chief Minister, who will ultimately hold the reins of power. Furthermore, the election of the Chairman, Vice Chairman, Mayor and Deputy Mayor will not be direct but will be in the House. Only through direct elections can the people choose their local leadership transparently,' highlighted Abid. Similarly, Qazi Mubin, a leading legal expert on the local government system in Pakistan, revealed that municipal committees, municipal corporations or tehsil councils had no mention in the Constitution. 'Therefore, the principles of forming the local government have been ignored in this new proposed law. If the formula for the distribution of administrative and financial powers is run by the bureaucracy instead of elected representatives of the people, then it negates the autonomy of local governments,' explained Mubin. On the other hand, PTI Lahore President and MPA Imtiaz Sheikh opined that the proposed bill was the worst bill in the history of Pakistan. 'The Constitution demands that financial and political powers be given to the district governments. All members present in the meeting of the Standing Committee have also opposed this bill. Under the local system, powers are to be given to the lower governments, but here, these powers have been taken from them and given to the center,' criticized Sheikh. Commenting on behalf of his party, Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Malik Ahmed Khan claimed that all political parties were asked to sit together and prepare this bill to ensure that there was no objection from the opposition. 'In the past, the local government system was suspended during the PTI government because they did not want to continue the system of the PML-N. But now the government has once again prepared the Local Government Bill 2025,' said Khan.
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Express Tribune
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
CM's Inspection Team fails to perform
As the Punjab government completes one year in office, the performance of all the departments has come under scrutiny. However, nothing could be revealed regarding the performance of the Chief Minister's Inspection Team, which critics believe is nothing more than another white elephant. Since the past 21 years, the Chief Minister's Inspection Team (CMIT) has been functional in Punjab. Comprising seven members along with a chairman and a secretary, the work of the team has been organized by allocating districts and divisions to different members. Each member of the team conducts monthly inspections regularly on the Chief Minister's directives. The CMIT has a staff of 110 officers and employees, resulting in an annual expenditure of Rs180 million on salaries and petrol. According to the information received by the Express Tribune, the CMIT has steadily faced a reduction in its workload over the years since the anti-corruption department and other institutions are also investigating their own matters. Hence, the number of inquiries under investigation has decreased from 600 during the era of Pervez Musharraf to an average of 150 per year in the current tenure. According to Salman Abid, a public policy advisor, the Chief Minister's Inspection Team has been used politically in every era. "This office is just a mini stop of service for Pakistan's administrative officers. When they get a good posting chance in the field, they leave the team. Hence, the team is a burden on the exchequer and is acting as a white elephant. While anti-corruption works on the source report, the Chief Minister's Inspection Team works on the Chief Minister's directive," noted Abid. As per the Chief Minister's Inspection Team Office, there are four types of complaints processed by the CMIT. The first type comes as the Chief Minister's directive, the second comes from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the third comes from the Facilitation and Accountability Cell while the fourth is a general complaint. Reportedly, a former member of the Chief Minister's Inspection Team and former President Provincial Management Service Rai Manzoor Hussain Nasir, had suggested to the Punjab government last year that the office of the CMIT should be shifted to GOR-1 near the CM's office. The move was expected to activate the office of the CMIT, but this did not happen. Furthermore, six chairmen of the CMIT have been changed in the last two years, out of which four were changed only last year. Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar, Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, opined that the inspection team was used as political revenge. "Petrol worth millions of rupees is wasted by officials in the name of inspection. The government should close all institutions that are a burden on the treasury and use this money for the welfare of the people," said Bhachar. The spokesman of the Punjab government refuted the claims that the CMIT was not performing well. "The Chief Minister issues directives for inspections and inquiries about various departments on a daily basis. This is yielding encouraging results. The team is also reviewing complaints from various departments," claimed the spokesman. The correspondent tried contacting the Chairman of the CMIT Salman Ijaz several times to inquire about the performance of the team, but he failed to respond.
Express Tribune
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
CM's Inspection Team shows minimal performance
As the Punjab government completes one year in office, the performance of all the departments has come under scrutiny. However, nothing could be revealed regarding the performance of the Chief Minister's Inspection Team, which critics believe is nothing more than another white elephant. Since the past 21 years, the Chief Minister's Inspection Team (CMIT) has been functional in Punjab. Comprising seven members along with a chairman and a secretary, the work of the team has been organized by allocating districts and divisions to different members. Each member of the team conducts monthly inspections regularly on the Chief Minister's directives. The CMIT has a staff of 110 officers and employees, resulting in an annual expenditure of Rs180 million on salaries and petrol. According to the information received by the Express Tribune, the CMIT has steadily faced a reduction in its workload over the years since the anti-corruption department and other institutions are also investigating their own matters. Hence, the number of inquiries under investigation has decreased from 600 during the era of Pervez Musharraf to an average of 150 per year in the current tenure. According to Salman Abid, a public policy advisor, the Chief Minister's Inspection Team has been used politically in every era. 'This office is just a mini stop of service for Pakistan's administrative officers. When they get a good posting chance in the field, they leave the team. Hence, the team is a burden on the exchequer and is acting as a white elephant. While anti-corruption works on the source report, the Chief Minister's Inspection Team works on the Chief Minister's directive,' noted Abid. As per the Chief Minister's Inspection Team Office, there are four types of complaints processed by the CMIT. The first type comes as the Chief Minister's directive, the second comes from the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the third comes from the Facilitation and Accountability Cell while the fourth is a general complaint. Reportedly, a former member of the Chief Minister's Inspection Team and former President Provincial Management Service Rai Manzoor Hussain Nasir, had suggested to the Punjab government last year that the office of the CMIT should be shifted to GOR-1 near the CM's office. The move was expected to activate the office of the CMIT, but this did not happen. Furthermore, six chairmen of the CMIT have been changed in the last two years, out of which four were changed only last year. Malik Ahmad Khan Bhachar, Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Assembly, opined that the inspection team was used as political revenge. 'Petrol worth millions of rupees is wasted by officials in the name of inspection. The government should close all institutions that are a burden on the treasury and use this money for the welfare of the people,' said Bhachar. The spokesman of the Punjab government refuted the claims that the CMIT was not performing well. 'The Chief Minister issues directives for inspections and inquiries about various departments on a daily basis. This is yielding encouraging results. The team is also reviewing complaints from various departments,' claimed the spokesman. The correspondent tried contacting the Chairman of the CMIT Salman Ijaz several times to inquire about the performance of the team, but he failed to respond.
